"Consciousness is the phenomenon whereby the universe's very existence is made known." ~ Roger Penrose
Here it is, my narrative manifesto. It's a revolution, y'all.
While the narrative part is just that, part of the greater whole, it's usually the sticking point for many old-school, OSR, and traditional gamers... supposedly the VENGER CON crowd.
Some bad GMs decided to write an awful fantasy novel and now the players are trapped in that Hell, their PCs moved around like pawns and told exactly what to do and how to do it. No thanks!
And there are some who bristle at the idea of roleplaying games being both a game and story, where the game is about collaboratively creating the story that's lived, rather than simply watched as a spectator. Those damn theater kids - get off my battle-maps!
After many, many rounds of argumentation on social media (lots of great tweets where I use Star Wars and The Matrix, among other things, to defend my positions), I've decided to clarify and codify my approach to the TTRPG hobby, in terms of running the game.
While there are instruction manuals for Game Masters, the rule-books give you generalized advice and a few "best practices," but it's all fairly subjective. This, too, is subjective. I'm telling you what works for me based on what I want out of the game. If you want to do something different, even the opposite, cool - go for it. I wish you luck, hoss!
And what do I want out of the game? That's the million-dollar question, because if you don't know what you want, how are you going to get it? For most of us, you know it when you see it... and when you do see it, you grab hold, gaze, ponder, dissect, try to recreate, fail, try again, and somehow fashion exactly what you want. Then, you have to be careful it doesn't get corrupted or thrown in the trash on the way to exalt the shiny new thing full of promise, hope, and novelty...
"You've had the entire universe explained to you and you're bored with it. So now you want cheap thrills and plenty of them, and it don't matter how tawdry or vacuous they are as long as it's new, as long as it's new, as long as it flashes and fuckin' bleeps in forty fuckin' different colors." (Naked, 1993)
I want to simulate, emulate, and immerse myself in a - allow me to bold and all-cap this description so there's no subtly, no obfuscation, no hiding the ball whatsoever - PULP-FANTASY SWORD & SORCERY ADVENTURE.
The kind found in literature, TV, and movies. Allow me to help you visualize - it's going to include plenty of action (Arnold as Conan decapitating people), skulking around temples and tombs (Indiana Jones seeking golden idols), and amusing banter (epitomized by the "jam scene" in live-action Aladdin). Bottom line, that's what I'm looking for.
Without further ado, let's proceed...
What am I calling this? I can't think of a name or term that wouldn't require an in-depth explanation. I was thinking about holistic gaming, then leaned towards esoteric; prior to this week I'd been using storygame-adjacent. Also, people have liked narrative approach or narrative shift. Maybe it's just the Venger Satanis method? I don't know. Yes, we're off to a rocky start. Not great. Hopefully, this is just a hiccup on the way to gold, glory, and great big... tracts of land!
Here are the following tenets of my Game Mastering philosophy according to the Venger Satanis method (sure, why not?)...
The Venger Satanis Method
"A Game Master can feel the force flow through him."
"You mean it controls your actions?"
"Partially, but it also obeys your commands." ~ Obi-wan and Luke Skywalker discussion on Game Mastering
1) Living World and Living Story - The Living World involves everything physical and mater-of-fact. The Living Story focuses on the meaning and purpose behind what's there - emotion; how it feels. Living Story deals with the anima mundi or soul of the world, the animating spirit that breathes life into the campaign setting. It's like the force, "a mystical, invisible energy field created by all living things which binds the universe together."
The TL;DR version is this - the Living World is the body; the Living Story is the soul. Body and soul. One without the other is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without either the peanut butter or jelly.
2) Narrative Structure - This is not a script, nor a railroad. Nothing is set in stone; everything is malleable. Surprises will inevitably happen. However, the GM should have plot-points helping to guide the player-determined path towards something gameable that makes sense in terms of the story. The story is happening as it's being created, moment to moment, encounter to encounter. GMs should also be concerned with all manner of narrative tools such as pacing, Chekov's gun, the rule of 3 (including clues), call-backs, dramatic irony, comedy relief, characters talking about their emotions, spotlighting the PCs, montage, negative space (breathing room), climax, and so many things!
I wasn't sure where to include Unifying Theme because it could stand on its own, or be included in either the Living Story or Aesthetic-Keys, but since stories have themes, I'll put it here. Vibes, basically. What's the game about, the central idea? If you can't say anything about the tone, atmosphere or mood, the motif, then you probably don't have a unifying theme, yet.
3) Aesthetic-Keys - What's the genre? What are the conventions, expectations, and tropes appropriate to that genre? Furthermore, pay attention to what makes this campaign setting, the one you're using, special, unlike the others. Why Cha'alt and not World of the Last Sun or Forgotten Realms? I like to call them aesthetic-keys, but milieu-nodes also works. If the GM isn't constantly pinging the setting's aesthetic-keys throughout campaign, then why bother having a campaign setting at all?
The 8 aesthetic-keys for Cha'alt are eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalypse, humor, sleaze, pop-culture, and grindhouse exploitation. Each one is like a slice of eclectic pie that makes up the whole. If I'm neglecting a player's favorite aesthetic-key, they can nudge the GM by stimulating a Cha'alt X-Card.
4) Demonize Masculinity - I hesitated to include this one, but we're no longer in the 20th century. We were spoiled in the 70s and 80s with pop-culture entertainment. If we keep fighting back, those days shall return!
Men have been robbed. In the times we're living in, you can see it plain as day. All the stuff that was made by men for men has been feminized, softened, weakened... sharp edges sanded down, adapted for modern audiences. Everything that's inappropriate, problematic, and way too gory, pornographic, offensive, horrific, sexist, funny, etc. has been removed until all that's left is pink, plastic mush with child-safety locks, ensuring nothing awesome ever happens at the table.
Well, fuck all that! Cha'alt is a middle-finger to the woke scolds who'd love to parent-teacher conference our hobby after letting a DEI committee of sensitivity readers decide how much raw masculinity we're allowed to have? Spoiler alert - none! Reject modernity; embrace tradition.
Not only should we create for the male gaze, but adventures should focus on the masculine experience because this is a hobby for men (of course, women who like what we like are more than welcome to join us, assuming they aren't doing so in order to change TTRPGs from within). If your session has more shopping than exploring, start cramming sizzling gypsies, tentacle-wrestling competitions, fighting cosmic battles for supremacy, and journeying to strange lands to conquer them!
Celebrate your masculinity, don't shrink from it. "There is a beast in man that should be exercised, not exorcized." ~ Anton Szandor LaVey
____________________
Well, there you have it. 4 tenets of the Venger Satanis method. While I'm not the first to incorporate these principles into their Game Mastering, perhaps the way I put all of it together is unique.
Regardless, now they're here. I can point to them... or, more likely, post a link to this blog post, and let people know my play-style before they try ripping it to shreds. While I've been GMing since 1982 with the Erol Otus / Tom Moldvay "magenta box" set of Basic D&D, the full extent of my TTRPG philosophy or school of thought hadn't coalesced until 2018.
Thanks for reading, critiquing, supporting, sharing, commenting, and all that good stuff!
VS
p.s. Yes, weekend badges are now available for July 2026's VENGER CON V: The Will To Power. Want the hardcover Cha'alt trilogy? Here's how (and they're currently on sale!)!!
No comments:
Post a Comment